Fabulist!

For the last few months I have been listening to a number of Podcasts on a regular basis (some even daily) and talking about them to whoever will listen. Now that podcasters are beginning to show up on CNN and other news media I figure it's time for a formal introduction for the Fabulist.
First of all Podcasts are basically prerecorded audio files, usually encoded as mp3s and that is really the only single thing that can be said about every single podcast. The vast majority of them have a host who choreographs the show much like a radio host would in the days when radio hosts were still human. Most of my favorite shows do not play music but many podcasts do (while trying to avoid the ire or the RIAA, but we'll get to that). The most striking thing for me first listening to these shows was that the people involved in the bleeding edge of this new media / art-form are not the usual suspects. I expected that every show would be an mp3 version of slashdot done solely by programmers and technophiles but what I found instead were talented independent broadcasters scraping and clawing their way into the format. Many of them starting out with very little technical acumen or sound quality who eventually developed their "channel" or "feed" into a legitimate sounding mediaoutlet. By legitimate I mean that they map well onto the listener's expectations of radio. Here is an example podcast that goes a long way to describe what podcasting is and how one can "subscribe" to a "feed" : [(mp3 link)](http://www.mwgblog.com/podcast/Reel-About-The-Podcast-2.mp3) It is important to note that there is not necessarily any relationship between a Podcast and an Ipod. The "Pod" part is mutually beneficial for promotional purposes I'm sure but at the same time I find a lot of people think they need to wait until they have an iPod to listen to one of these shows. They are just mp3 files that can be listened to immediately in most browsers. The more complicated issue is keeping up to date on the newest shows and that is where the terms "feed" and "subscription" come in. These broadcasters, needing a portable format in which to allow their listeners to track new shows without having to visit their web page every day, turned to XML and specifically the RSS standard for site summary that people have been using to get updates from their favorite blogs and news sites for years. On most podcast websites you will see a like that says "XML", "Feed", or "Podcast" all of these are analogues for an XML RSS file containing the updated content for the show. Using a specialized rss reader like these: iPodder [(link)](http://www.ipodder.org/directory/4/ipodderSoftware) iPodderX [(link)](http://ipodderx.com/) PlayPod [(link)](http://www.iggsoftware.com/playpod/) allows you to add that rss xml link as a show you want to watch and keep up to date on. All of these will automatically load any downloaded shows into iTunes which in turn can be loaded onto your iPod, iRiver or other portable media device for listening on the go. By the way, a "subscription" for now means only an intent to listen and has nothing to do with paying for content. You will notice that most of the podcasts out there won't be playing the top 40 hits (thank god) and there are legal / ethical reasons for this. It is obviously, currently taking a risk when one broadcasts another's intellectual property however obscure that broadcast might be. This drastically reduces the available options for these broadcasters to play music in their show but it also opens the way for less known, non-ASCAP recording artists whose recordings are not covered by the RIAA to find some ears. These songs have been dubbed "Pod safe" and these broadcasters are hungry for high quality music of this type. Several artists have already benefitted from being played on podcasts such as the "Lascivious Biddies" [(link)](http://www.biddies4ever.com/) who have sold out their album on Amazon at least indirectly from their rotation on popular podcasts. Now it might be important to describe why one would be compelled to listen to something like this on a regular basis. Unfortunately, it's all in the content and you really have to listen for yourself and find the shows you like. I can suggest some of my favorites and those with the best sound quality but it won't mean anything if you aren't interested in the people and subject matter. It doesn't take much to try a show out. Just go to their site and let the mp3 load in your browser while you sample it. You will probably know pretty quickly whether you will be coming back for more. These are some good starting places: [Adam Curry's podcast](http://live.curry.com/) : He basically invented this medium and his podcast is one of the oldest. He comes from radio and of course he was an Mtv VJ so he is a natural. [Reel Reviews](http://www.mwgblog.com/) : A podcast that is growing in popularity. It focuses on reviewing movies for cinephiles. [The Dawn and Drew show](http://www.dawnanddrew.com/) : The most popular podcast according to PodcastAlley [(link)](http://www.podcastalley.com/) and one of my favorites. Described as "married bestest buddies, podcasting from their 1895 farmhouse living room in southeast wisconsin". [Today's Podcast](http://todayspodcast.com/) : A very short daily podcast that will explain to you the meaning of words and other things. [RasterWeb! Audio](http://rasterweb.net/raster/) : Another short podcast. Just extremely funny and short and I love it. [The Engadget Podcast](http://www.engadget.com/) : Another very popular podcast. This one made by some of the guys at Engadget who talk about the newest gadgets and games. [Coverville](http://www.coverville.com/) : A show that specializes in playing covers songs. Just a well made show and always enjoyable to listen to. It is often popular songs played by other popular musicians. Not sure how he gets away with it ;) [Morning Coffee Notes]( http://www.scripting.com/) : Dave Winer is the other half of the dynamic duo who brought about this whole podcasting thing with Adam Curry. [Really Learn Spanish](http://radio.weblogs.com/0142338/) : As an example of some alternative uses of this format, a podcast that can help you learn Spanish! [Rock and Roll Geek Show](http://www.americanheartbreak.com/movabletype/) : A great podcast that plays a lot of music. The host is a musician who has made many of his shows while on the road with his band "American Heartbreak". [The Vinyl Podcast]( http://vinylpodcast.com/index.php) : Fair use of forgotten music. This podcast raises the musical dead and exposes it's listener to things they can't have heard anywhere else or ever again. For more visit : PodcastAlly [(link)](http://www.podcastalley.com/) and the massive iPodder.org directory [(link)](http://www.ipodder.org/directory/4/podcasts/categories) results may vary ;) enjoy.